Top positive review

We have been using this throughout the summer in readiness for burning the bricks as they nights get colder. Awesome product.

My partner half fills a wheelie pin with water, then adds in paper which he just hand tears up, and leaves it in the sun for two to three days to mash - he then strains it straight into the the log maker (uses a fishing net to scoop it out). We then dry the bricks on a wooden rack in the greenhouse, turning them daily to dry. Somehow we now have 60 bricks already!

I have already burnt one on our log burning stove, and it lasted over an hour on a bed of hot coals (from heat logs). Gave out a load of heat, and am really impressed by it. Of course the burn time depends on numerous factors, such as how dense you have compacted your brick, the flow of air through the stove etc etc..... I will be using these alongside heat logs and kiln dried wood

We are currently experimenting by using different proportions of cardboard, and whether a paper shredder would be an advantage - but my partner is happy just to screw up sheets of paper and then use the log maker itself to push the fibres together into a dense block. He has no complaints about the quality or durability of this log maker (trust me, if there were anything to complain about he would....).

Looking forward to using the paper bricks this autumn/winter and saving money!!

Top critical review

It's ok but not much more than that. You need to practice and get your paper mix right as if it's too watery then it just spurts out of the side and goes everywhere.

The sides bow out as the metal does not seem strong enough for the forces involved and the insert can be difficult to get out without bending the briquette.

I am also a bit disappointed at how wet the briquettes seem to remain afterwards despite trying different mixes of paper and some with sawdust added.

It served its purpose in that I wanted to see what briquettes were like but for serious use I would get on of the larger piston operated ones on eBay that make smaller briquettes but they are much drier and in the videos the man throws them onto concrete as soon as they are made and they stay together.

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We have been using this throughout the summer in readiness for burning the bricks as they nights get colder. Awesome product.

My partner half fills a wheelie pin with water, then adds in paper which he just hand tears up, and leaves it in the sun for two to three days to mash - he then strains it straight into the the log maker (uses a fishing net to scoop it out). We then dry the bricks on a wooden rack in the greenhouse, turning them daily to dry. Somehow we now have 60 bricks already!

I have already burnt one on our log burning stove, and it lasted over an hour on a bed of hot coals (from heat logs). Gave out a load of heat, and am really impressed by it. Of course the burn time depends on numerous factors, such as how dense you have compacted your brick, the flow of air through the stove etc etc..... I will be using these alongside heat logs and kiln dried wood

We are currently experimenting by using different proportions of cardboard, and whether a paper shredder would be an advantage - but my partner is happy just to screw up sheets of paper and then use the log maker itself to push the fibres together into a dense block. He has no complaints about the quality or durability of this log maker (trust me, if there were anything to complain about he would....).

Looking forward to using the paper bricks this autumn/winter and saving money!!

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Awesome. Have made approximately 100 bricks so far and the log maker is showing no signs of giving up, and I've not been gentle with it, I really apply a lot of pressure, really sturdy piece of kit. The bricks do take a good while to fully dry out, not sure exactly how long, but a couple of months or so, that's in an un-heated warehouse, but well ventilated. I have also fashioned a drying rack out of a tall set of metal shelves without a back and racks from broken freezers and ovens propped up a few centimetres off the shelves for maximum ventilation. When they start to dry, there is a bit of an unpleasant smell, I presume it's just the wet paper, most things smell less pleasant when wet. Next batch I do I'm going to try incorporating used coffee grounds and perhaps a few with dried lavender or something, will add to the review once I've tried and tested it. The bricks seem to burn well, longer in an enclosed wood burner than on an open fire, they do not produce any unusual smoke or smell, but rather a lot of ash. Really pleased with this product, great fun and a useful outcome.

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If you have the patience and dedication to strip and soak your old newspaper then the block press works great. Bought it as an alternative to a shredder for destroying old documents of a more sensitive nature, and with newspaper mixed in with regular paper it provides a good burning log for the fire.

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Before I bought this I'd read reviews and watched videos of people complaining that it takes a lot of effort to use.Maybe if you have wrist problems this would be true, but I've found it easy.Lessons I've learned through trial and error:Don't use cardboard (eeg boxes are great though).Make sure the paper is well mushy (three days)Use them as a supplement to real logs, not on their own.

Nice product and a great way of disposing of newspapers and other paper.

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The thought of recycling water paper etc. and using it as a winter fuel is very attractive.

This device helps you make house brick sized 'logs'. Making these logs is a messy business....

You'll need a stable surface and some muscle to squeeze out the water and have to watch your fingers while you do it.Extracting your new fuel log/brick from this device is a challenge. If you've squeezed it well, it's going to be really stuck in there. I found that the metal it was made of simply wasn't of a heavy enough gauge and the sides bowed.

The completed logs take ages to be dry enough to burn. So I would make them in the summer.

Burn wise I found the created logs were hopeless. Practically impossible to light and gave off too little heat to be worth the effort of making them in the first place. For this to be worth the effort I would have to be living in a cave!

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.... although I'm burning the logs far quicker than I can make them! I wish I had stored up a load through the summer as some have suggested. I only managed to make the first trial few whilst the sun was hot enough to dry them quickly.

So I bought a bucket (huge bucket you know the floppy ones) reasonably priced and useful for other purposes to, carrying bottles, etc. and filled it up with torn paper, which I could do quite easily sat in front of said fire watching tv of an evening (but a lengthy job as did nearly fill the bucket very large bucket). then just filled with water once bucket placed in sunlight to keep it warm for the breaking down process. Although its not warm enough I think and certainly mushed a lot quicker in the summer.

Easy to make the bricks by squishing, but do use something over the metal edges of the handles (as they hurt to push on otherwise! - oven gloves were good for this). left to air dry in summer sun an excellent use of the suns rays, but they dried very well in my airing cupboard too!

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Bought this after reading the many reviews and deciding it was worth a try. Cannot yet comment on the burn quality of the logs as winter is a little way off here in Spain. However, really pleased with how it functions. Yes, it's a little hard going on the hands but as another reviewer suggested, I turn it upside down after initially pressing the handles. I also place a piece of wood from an old shelf on it and then sit on the wood. Hey presto, nicely squeezed without needing the strength of Samson. Also have a useful drain grate outside the garage which I carry this out on , so no mess as the water drains straight away. Looking forward to supplementing the burning of logs with all the free newspapers I have collected. Bargain!

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This is the second Eko-Mania log maker we have bought. The previous one lasted some three years and made countless logs before it finally needed replacing. We have learned it is better to shred the paper (and newspaper is best) and line the log maker with a whole sheet of newspaper. This keeps the pieces in one neat bundle. We recycle all our newspapers in this way and add small amounts of other shredded paper as well. The steel construction is robust and takes a lot of punishment well.

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I was most impressed by the speed of delivery - it arrived the day after I placed the order. It is sturdily made and well fit for purpose. I find that 50 pages of tabloid newspaper is right for one log. I feed the paper (folded) four pages at a time through a shredder. They are ready in a day to be compressed in the log maker. I place the logs on an out-of-the-way radiator and they dry quite quickly.